Blog Archive

Bringing you the latest science from the 2012 Division of Planetary Sciences meeting

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/14 07:49 CDT | 2 comments

I've just arrived in Reno, Nevada for the annual meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. Here's an introduction and a few useful links; stay tuned the rest of the week for new science from all over the solar system and beyond.

Write the President to Save Planetary Exploration (FAQ)

Posted by Casey Dreier on 2012/10/14 12:40 CDT | 9 comments

We've written congress. We've written the budget staffers in the government. Now it's time to reach for the top, and get the President to hear our passion and support for Planetary Exploration.

Book Review: The International Atlas of Mars Exploration, by Phil Stooke

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/12 04:31 CDT | 3 comments

I've been waiting for the publication of this book for years. Phil Stooke's International Atlas of Mars Exploration, just published by Cambridge University Press, is an exhaustively awesome labor of love, chronicling the first five decades of Mars exploration in pictures, maps, and facts.

First science reports from Curiosity's APXS and ChemCam: Petrology on Jake Matijevic

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/12 01:18 CDT | 16 comments

A Curiosity press briefing yesterday gave some of the first results from ChemCam and APXS on the rock "Jake Matijevic." It was a little too much petrology for most people; I do my best to explain.

Panoramic view of northeastern hills, Curiosity sol 50

Pretty panoramas: Curiosity's scenic views of distant hills

Posted by Emily Lakdawalla on 2012/10/11 07:37 CDT | 3 comments

The landscapes that surround Curiosity are picture-postcard beautiful.

Astrophotos making the web - the good, the bad and the ugly ...

Posted by Daniel Fischer on 2012/10/10 04:18 CDT | 2 comments

Space blogger Daniel Fischer writes about the problem of composited astrophotos being distributed through social media channels by people unaware that they are artworks, not documentary photographs.